A village pub has defended its service after a customer posted a scathing one-star review, following a series of unexpected disruptions that forced staff to make last-minute changes.
The Old Inn in Widecombe in the Moor said it had been dealing with a fire which required three fire engines to attend, alongside a burst water main that left the premises without water until midday.
The incident resulted in a reduced menu, which prompted criticism from one customer who described their visit as “poor in every way”.
In the review, the customer said: “Limited menu due to gas problem, chose from the limited choice then was told they could not do what we had ordered so ended up with a cheese and pickle sandwich, this had more pickle than cheese, ordered more cheese which was tasteless but apparently lots of people order it!”
They added: “No apologies. The best weather of the year so far and the garden was closed for maintenance! The barman was surly and needs to go on a customer service course.”
Responding publicly, Shane M, representing the pub, explained the circumstances behind the disruption.
Shane said: “Thanks for your review. With regards to the gas we had a fire yesterday and had 3 fire engines out. Hence the reduced menu. We do apologise, but this was out of our control.”
He added: “But this was explained to every customer that visited us. We do have great compliments about our food and I apologise that you didn’t enjoy your mature cheddar cheese and pickle. Which the pickle is homemade.”
Shane continued: “You didn’t bring this to our attention at the time, as we’d rather rectify this in house than on here. If you’d like to call us to discuss I’d appreciate this.”
The pub also said it had managed to open for lunch despite the disruption, after initially being unsure whether it would be able to operate due to the fire and water outage.
